MIDLAND — In
a filing yesterday with the Michigan Supreme Court in the lawsuit Loar v. DHS, Mackinac Center attorney
Patrick J. Wright lodged a
response to a Department
of Human Services brief that he later described as a "thin hodge-podge of
technicalities." The filing by Wright, director of the Mackinac Center Legal
Foundation, called on the Supreme Court to immediately rule in favor of the
home day care business owners the Mackinac Center represents in the case.

The
Center's lawsuit seeks to end the DHS' illegal diversion of so-called "union
dues" from state subsidy checks that home-based day care providers receive for
watching children from low-income families. The supposed "dues" are funneled to
a government employee union that purports to represent more than 40,000 of
Michigan's home-based day care providers, even though they are private business
owners and independent contractors.

"Shockingly,
the DHS has once again failed to discuss the central question in this case,
namely, Are home day care providers government employees?" said Wright. "By
repeatedly refusing to address the issue in its pleadings, the state has
effectively waived the right to argue it any longer. We have therefore asked
the Michigan Supreme Court to peremptorily reverse the Court of Appeals'
decision and rule for our clients.

"In
fairness," added Wright, "courts are very hesitant to rule summarily in a case
that the defendants have never properly argued. Recognizing this, we've also
suggested that the Supreme Court either remand the case to the Court of Appeals
for a full hearing or require the DHS to write a brief that answers the central
question. Either way, the DHS faces an uphill battle if it eventually claims
home day care providers are public employees. On its own website, the DHS clearly tells
them several
times in separate
places that they are not public employees."

Wright
also points out that home-based day care providers were described as
"independent contractors" by a lobbyist for the American Federation of State,
County and Municipal Employees in a remarkably candid
e-mail recently obtained through the Freedom of Information Act. The
lobbyist, who is apparently familiar with the unionization and the surrounding
negotiations, also stated that the unionization effort was undertaken with the
approval of the "Executive Office" — i.e., the office of Gov. Jennifer
Granholm.

The DHS' filing, which never discusses the
merits of the suit, calls on the Supreme Court not to hear the case. In
response, Wright notes that the length of the DHS' filing — a meager 12 pages,
despite an allotment of 50 — suggests the DHS has no argument to make on the
merits.